Ripper's Secret
by Kaat ShadowLover
Summary: First in the Ri'par Universe. When vampires kidnap Giles, the gang learns that he's got a rather large secret hidden away. There is a slash relationship, but nothing happens. Rated R for explicit violence.
1. Prologue: The Prophecy

Title: Ripper's Secret

Author: Kaat ShadowLover

Email address: ShadowLoverK@lycos.com

Rating: R for general torture

Pairing(s): Giles/Ethan

Spoilers: this story takes place sometime in the fourth season, after Spike's chip but before Adam and before Ethan turned Giles into a demon for a day. There might be slight spoilers for anything up to that point. It all depends on just how much detail you consider to be a spoiler. g

Summary: When vampires kidnap Giles, the gang learns that he's got a rather large secret hidden away.

Disclaimer: They aren't mine. I really wish they were, but since they're not, I'll just borrow them. I promise to clean them up and return them when I'm done.

Feedback: Oh yes, please!

Ripper's Secret

By Kaat ShadowLover

Prologue: The Prophecy

__

Tonya froi chu'ly fin so'cast

ubinyon cal fer'rin den yann

so'kulu swes vala tin dulin

Kwai tel'on sun vrai rooni'yon

fin sulon kin'de vera'nastin

chon fep'tu ellay kwal de'su

Sulon fan'yan cas den'has nairly

prin hosp'in kel swin rupert giles

fwin del'as ka'yin dol sulon

Beside the deep waters of calming,

where the winter wind never blows cold,

the barriers between worlds will be weakened.

There a demon wearing mortal guise

will seek the band of shielding

that prevents all blows to the wearer.

There the key to the band will be living,

the young lordling, the studious rebel,

who might prevent or aid the band's loss.


	2. Chapter One: A New Player

Chapter One: A New Player

Gregory paced around his lair, furious. His minions cowered by the walls, each hoping that he wouldn't take his anger out on them. They needn't have worried. Gregory wasn't the type of vampire to kill his troops needlessly, he only took their lives to make a point or to punish, usually both at once. Besides, the reason he was angry was that he'd already lost some of his minions. He certainly wasn't about to kill more.

A snarl graced his face, pulling his lips back to reveal bright fangs. Lost his minions to that damned Slayer! He couldn't figure out what to do about her. He needed to be at the Hellmouth for his plans to work, but why did she have to be here too? Slayers didn't stay in one place! They traveled, they hunted! But apparently, the demon population in this horrible little town was enough to warrant a full-time Slayer. And he'd heard rumors that there were two of the bitches now, so that was probably another reason she was allowed to stay.

Throwing himself into a nearby chair, Gregory's eyes burned as he pondered the situation he found himself in. He was a Master Vampire, over five hundred years old. Besides his large number of minions, he also had alliances with many other types of demons and an impressive knowledge of magic. When he had been human, Gregory had been a scholar, always curious about everything. That curiosity had stayed with him as a vampire and his Sire had encouraged it, knowing that the old adage knowledge is power was true, especially when it came to demons, magic, and the world they all shared, hidden from humans.

Unlike other demons who took up residence in Sunnydale, Gregory had not chosen an abandoned warehouse, sewers, or anything in a cemetery. He knew that those would be obvious places to look for his kind. Instead, he had used some of the vast wealth he had accumulated over the years to purchase an apartment building and retrofit it. Now, there was a new music store on the first floor. Gregory had leased the space to one of the large chains and allowed them to do what they wanted with the space, including hiring their own workers. The third and top floor had been remodeled into a twisting labyrinth, the center of which contained Gregory's own rooms. The second floor was kept as apartments in order to create a buffer between the first and third floors. This was where his minions lived as well as all his demon servants and a few of his demonic allies who didn't have anyplace else in town to live. No one was allowed to do anything on the second floor that would be heard and cause suspicion. If his followers needed to feed or torture, there were rooms in the labyrinth specifically for that purpose. There was even sound proofing to make sure the humans suspected nothing. Also, Gregory wouldn't allow any hunting within a two-block radius of his home and he enforced this with an iron hand and sharp fangs.

The cause of this extensive project had been two-fold. Gregory had lately become bored with the city that he'd been living in for the past half-century. Sure, Berlin was fun and all, but the Cold War was over and it was harder to cover up the sheer number of missing persons that a nest of vampires created. Plus, Gregory, always on the look out for more knowledge, had come across an intriguing rumor of a magical artifact. This item, in the shape of a bracelet, was rumored to provide protection from physical attacks. For an immortal vampire whose main weakness was the possibility of a wooden stick going through his heart, the idea itself was worth following up on.

Problems though, tend to occur on searches of this nature, and that remained true about this one. While there were rumors of this bracelet, indeed, there were even rumors that it was one of many, no one knew where to find it. At least, no one in demonic circles. Gregory had gotten the impression, while following up leads and vague hints, that the magic of this particular piece of jewelry did not come from the power of Hell, but from a different source entirely. This wasn't unheard of. Demonic magic certainly wasn't the only kind around. Human magicians used the power of the natural world all the time and some even drew power from other planes of existence. Yes, some of them used Hell energy but the Hell dimensions were certainly not the only world in contact with the Mortal plane, with Earth, and people could draw power from those other worlds as well. Rumor said that this bracelet was from one of those other worlds and so Gregory, while incredibly knowledgeable in the magics and powers of demons, did not know much about the other planes and, as a demon himself, would not be granted the opportunity to study them. Many of the denizens of those other worlds avoided demons, and with good cause.

Despite the problems inherent in his search, Gregory had found a few useful clues. The best of the bunch was a prophecy that appeared to be specifically about the bracelet itself. He had found this prophecy in a group of books and papers that had been sold as historic curiosities. The entire group had been found in the Globe, the theatre where Shakespeare had written and directed his famous plays. The assumption was that the writings had once belonged to the Bard himself and were sold on that basis. Of course, the fact that several of the papers and even a few of the books could be dated back centuries before Shakespeare's time didn't seem to matter to any of the collectors who had anxiously bid on the items. Gregory had been intrigued and had made sure that he was the one to obtain the entire group.

Purchasing the lot at the rather exorbitant amount he'd paid for it had, however, proved to be a wise decision. For he'd found, folded up in a rather decrepit copy of Midsummer Night's Dream, a yellowed paper with the prophecy written on it. The top half of the paper contained about a paragraph of text that was in no language Gregory knew or had heard of. But the second half was written in Latin and was fairly obviously a translation of the top. This was both fortunate and unfortunate for Gregory. As he could not read the first language, the translation was invaluable. At the same time, how was he to know if the translation was accurate if he was unable to check it himself?

The prophecy, translated correctly or not, proved to be irresistible to Gregory and so, on obtaining it, he had carefully set up plans to move to Sunnydale, California. Due to his cautious nature and the fact that the Slayer lived in the vicinity, the purchase, renovation, and actual settling in had taken slightly less than a year. But now the music store had been in place for several months, the apartments for a few weeks less, and Gregory himself had been in residence for three weeks. Now, he'd decided, it was finally time to start searching for his prize, or at the very least, for more clues to its whereabouts. But how would he be able to find out anything if the Slayer kept dusting his minions!?

Gregory sighed and, leaving his large audience room where he gave orders, was presented with information, and met with fellow demons, headed for his private study where he did much of his research. He sat down heavily on a padded chair. He'd lived for centuries without that kind of luxury. Now that it was available, why not take advantage? His desk was of fine quality, both well used and well cared for. Sitting on top of his desk was an open notepad, several pens and pencils, a computer printout and, mounted in a picture frame and under glass for protection, the original prophecy. The computer printout was something Gregory had done when he'd first found the prophecy. Due to the age of the paper, it had been deteriorating rather quickly. So he'd copied the words, both the original language and the Latin, and had added an English translation of the Latin for convenience. Then he'd protected the original copy. The notebook had pages of notes, speculation and dead ends, everything he'd thought of and tried in his quest. Now he needed some new ideas so he began to reread the prophecy.

Several hours of mental work had not helped him come up with anything new until he began to look at the original language the prophecy had been written in. His thought was that while he didn't understand it, perhaps he might recognize a word or two. His idea bore fruit when he suddenly shouted in triumph and stood up, going to the bookshelf and grabbing a small bound folder that looked like a report of some kind.

Before Gregory had come to the town in person, he'd deemed it good security to have an understanding of the power plays going on. Usually this meant which demons hunted where, what vampire controlled which territory, but in the case of the Hellmouth, Gregory had ordered his underlings to study the Slayer and her allies as well. In fact, that report was an entirely different one than the report on demon activities and would have been larger if not for the truly surprising number of demons living on the Hellmouth. This particular Slayer, unlike most of her kind, appeared to have a group of allies besides just her Watcher. But right now it was the Watcher Gregory was interested in and he turned to the appropriate part of the report.

The Watcher, one Rupert Giles, was from England, the same place the prophecy had been unearthed. He was extremely knowledgeable about both demonic and ancient human languages and what he didn't know he appeared to be extremely adept at finding out. Gregory smirked and looked back down at the prophecy, at one line in the original text: _prin hosp'in kel swin rupert giles._ Then he strode back to his audience chamber to order that the Watcher be brought to him, alive.


	3. Chapter Two: Dangerous Surprises

Chapter Two: Dangerous Surprises

Buffy walked quickly towards Giles' apartment. It was late afternoon, she'd just finished her last class of the day, and there was something she needed to consult her Watcher about. In the past week or so, she'd been dusting vampires in a few unusual places. She'd found a few by the beach and some had been trying to break into the campus library. Very strange for a vamp. There had even been one, a few nights ago, that she'd found in the cemetery. While that in itself was quite normal, it was what the vamp had been doing that was weird. She'd caught him in the act of what looked to be spying on other vampires. She had of course, proceeded to dust the vampires being spied upon as well, but she couldn't figure out why the lone one had been lurking in the first place.

This was obviously not normal vampire behavior. If she had to guess, Buffy thought that perhaps a group of vampires were looking for information on something. Possibly something hidden at the beach since the ones she'd found at the shore had been going through some caves, seemingly searching, though for what she had no clue. So she figured a visit to her Watcher was in order. Giles would look through his books and find out exactly what this group was doing. Then they'd go out and she could stop them from doing it. Dusting them all in the process of course.

Turning onto Giles' street, Buffy got the feeling that something was not as it should be. As she'd learned never to ignore that kind of feeling, she sped up, jogging swiftly to Giles' door. She knocked once and waited impatiently for an answer. When that answer obviously wasn't forthcoming, she tried the knob. The door swung open, which wasn't a good sign. If Giles was home, why hadn't he at least called out that he was unable to come let her in. If he had left on an errand, he would have locked up. Something was very wrong.

Then Buffy entered and her eyes widened. The entire place was in shambles. Furniture was strewn around, there were several of Giles' weapons lying on the floor as well as a half dozen telling piles of dust. Lamps were broken and books were lying on the floor in ungainly heaps. There had been a fight here, that much was certain. And Buffy knew from the dust piles just what her mentor had been fighting. Apparently, he'd lost. But what had happened to him? Had the remaining, undusted vamps taken him with them? What did they want with him?

Buffy swallowed nervously. She really hated the idea of having to stake the vampire version of Rupert Giles, but she knew that it was a distinct possibility. Another was finding his body in the morgue, drained of blood. But if the vampires had wanted to kill Giles, why hadn't they done it already? So they probably wanted him for something else. But the best person to help her figure out why Giles had been snatched was Giles! The Slayer hurried to the phone, intent on assembling her friends. They had to find Giles, and quickly.

Early that morning:

It had been barely a half hour before dawn when Giles had awakened. He'd decided that staying in bed was just lazy and so had risen, dressed, and then headed downstairs to make breakfast. He'd been drinking a glass of orange juice, waiting for the toast to be done and watching the eggs to make sure they didn't burn, when he'd been surprised by a knock. The only person he could think of who might be at his door this early in the morning was Buffy. Perhaps she'd run into trouble on patrol the night before and needed help.

Rising quickly, the Watcher made his way to the front of his apartment. His young Slayer and her friends may have been too involved in their new post-high school lives to see him much anymore, but that didn't mean he'd ignore them. On the contrary, he welcomed any visit, even if it did mean another Hellmouth crisis was at hand. He opened the door with a welcoming smile on his face.

His expression quickly turning to surprise and shock, Giles was pushed hard back into the center of the room by a rather small but very strong demon of indeterminate race. It's skin was light blue and it sported spiny ears and a horn in the center of its head. Giles had never seen anything quite like it and was briefly overcome with a desire to rush to his books and look the thing up. That desire was quickly overcome by outrage and survival instincts as the demon smirked at him and then turned and calmly invited in the group of vampires that had been waiting at the door.

Eyes widening, Giles turned and ran to the chest in the corner of the room, where he kept his weapons. He made it just in time to open the chest and pull out a rather large and wicked looking dagger before the first vampire fell upon him. He twisted out of its grip and slashed the dagger at the next vampire, which was close behind. Despite not having Slayer strength and speed, Giles had been trained to fight and it showed. His first swing caused a cloud of dust to appear as he beheaded his opponent.

The rest of the group growled their outrage and they all tried to grab hold of him. Fortunately for Giles, their numbers worked to their own disadvantage as they kept getting in each other's way. The small blue-skinned demon just stood off to the side, watching the battle. And battle it was. Giles had managed to grab a small crossbow in the moment of surprise following the first death. Then he made his way behind a chair in the corner, keeping it between him and his attackers as he fired off a few bolts, reloading as quickly as possible. Two of the wooden missiles found their targets and more dust ended up on the floor. But that cleared the way for two more of the vampires to grab the chair and toss it across the room.

Giles dropped the now-useless crossbow and, swinging at the nearest vampire, jumped the small table to get more room to lay about him with the dagger. He managed to wound several of the group around him, but nothing fatal. As the fight ranged through the entire room, books were tossed around, furniture knocked about, and a few more dust piles created. But Giles was fighting a losing battle. The vampires managed to back him up towards the nearly forgotten demon who reached up and around the human to place a soft cloth against his mouth. Tired from his exertions, Giles couldn't stop his frantic panting and inadvertently inhaled the sickly sweet vapor. As his grip on the dagger loosened, causing it to fall to the floor, and Giles himself began to drop, his last conscious thought was what kind of demon uses chloroform?'

The vampires, now faced with nothing to fight, all growled menacingly at the demon. Smiling back at them, it bent down and easily hefted the limp form over its shoulder. Then it proceeded to lead the way out of the apartment and down into a sewer tunnel that would conveniently lead right back to their headquarters. The last vampire out made sure that the door was closed so no neighbors would happen to see the demolished living room.


	4. Chapter Three: Unexpected Aid

Chapter Three: Unexpected Aid

The sun had just set and the Scooby gang was gathered in Giles' demolished living room. Willow sat on the couch next to her new girlfriend Tara. Xander was in a slightly torn easy chair with Buffy standing beside it. Lounging against the wall, a lit cigarette dangling from his mouth, was Spike. Xander had run into him on the way to Giles' apartment and told the vampire what was going on. Spike had simply come along, not bothering to explain why. It seemed likelier that he wanted the chance to beat up on demons than that he was here to repay the Watcher for whatever aid had been administered when Spike had escaped the Initiative with a computer chip in his brain.

Buffy started things off by explaining why she figured Giles had been kidnapped. It didn't take long. The destruction of the living was plain and the Slayer hadn't bothered to clean up anything. The weapons and dust were still where they had fallen. The story they told was rather self-evident, especially to the experienced demon hunters (and one demon) who were gathered in the room. Tara listened carefully but the few questions she had, she whispered to Willow who answered the same way.

Frustrated that this small bit of information was all they had to go on, Buffy asked if anyone had any ideas. Surprisingly, Spike was the first to speak up.

"This was obviously a rather large group of vamps, pet. And you said you'd found some weird-acting minions the last few nights. Thought they were searching for something. Well, the past few weeks, there've been a bunch of new vamps in town. Rumor is that a new Master Vampire has moved in."

Before he could finish, Buffy whirled on him, eyes blazing. "You knew there was a new nest in town and you didn't tell us?! A Master Vampire could be serious trouble, especially if he's looking for something."

Xander nodded, "Yeah, usually, when one of these guys sends out search parties, it means some kind of end of the world party. What's this guy looking for, the perfect mate? Why don't we just give him Spike?"

The vampire in question had a look of disdain on his face as he puffed smoke. "Oh, ha bloody ha. For your information, I don't have the slightest idea what this guy wants. And why should I have told you about him, Slayer? Be consorting with the enemy it would. But if he hasn't found what he's looking for yet, and it sounds like he hasn't, then that's my bet on why ol' Rupes was nabbed. He figures out tons of stuff for you lot. Maybe this guy figured he'd use that knowledge."

Buffy visibly calmed herself down and thought for a second. "You're right, that sounds like as good a reason as any that they grabbed Giles. Better than most. And if it's true, they'll keep him alive, at least for a bit, so that's gives us time to find him."

Spike snorted, "They'll keep him alive until he's of no use to them. After that, he's just a snack."

Willow nodded, a small smile on her face, "Yes, but this is Giles. He'll be able to outthink a bunch of vamps, at least make them think he's helping them until we can get to him."

Buffy grinned, "You're right, Will! Now we just have to rescue him before he stops fooling them. Spike! Where is this Master Vampire holed up. Is his lair in a cemetery, the sewers, what?"

Spike shook his head, "Sorry, luv, don't know. This one's kept his head down and none of his minions are talking. All I knew was that he was in town, not where he shacked up. Can't help you there."

Buffy glowered and then took a deep breath and nodded to herself. "All right. Looks like we do this the hard way. We start canvassing the town and I'll shake down any vamps and demons we meet. Maybe we can find one of this guy's minions to lead us to his hideout."

She turned and strode decisively towards the door. Throwing it open, she was suddenly stopped by an unexpected barrier. A man, with his hand poised to knock, to be specific. Buffy's eyes grew wide with surprise and her pretty mouth was now sporting the start of a snarl. "Ethan?! What are you doing here? If you had something to do with this, I swear you'll regret it!"

Ethan Rayne, wearing jeans and a long sleeve silk shirt, simply smirked and pushed past the angry Slayer into the room. "Really, Miss Summers, Ripper must work with you on coming up with some original dialogue. Vague threats are just not in fashion any longer. Besides, is that any way to treat someone who's come to help you?"

Buffy glowered, shut the door with a bang, and turned back to the room, her arms crossed over her chest. "What do you mean, you're here to help? You never help, you're always the problem."

Ethan inclined his head in a gracious nod, "Yes well, I am a Chaos Magician. That is what I do. But I'm quite serious about helping, young lady. Ripper's in trouble. I've come to help him get out of it."

Xander stood, looking confrontational, ready for a fight. "Why should we believe you? You've always tried to hurt us, hurt Giles. And how'd you know he was in trouble already unless you're behind it?"

Ethan rolled his eyes and spoke as if he were talking to very young children. "Ripper is an old friend. What we do with that friendship is between us. But I don't want him hurt. Not like this."

Buffy snorted, "Not unless you're the one to hurt him you mean?"

Spike flicked his cigarette stub to the floor and ground it out with his foot. It wasn't as if it would create more of a mess than was already there. "Oi! Bloody hell, people! The man's loyal to his old mate! He's a magician and he wants to help you. That's exactly what you need unless you want to follow the Slayer's plan of searching the Hellmouth for a demon who might possibly reveal a clue to where your Watcher is. Just except his help and fight later."

Tara said something softly to Willow and nodded and then faced the group. "Spike has a point. We could really use Ethan's magic. He might know some spells to help us locate Giles. The fact that he's known Giles for so long will help the spell."

Ethan smirked again. The expression, it seemed, never left his face for long. "You are correct, young ladies. In fact, there's a scrying spell that would be perfect for this. I can focus it on Ripper and not only will we see where he is, but we might find out why he was taken."

Xander frowned, "You still haven't told us how you found out about that. Buffy only found the apartment like this a few hours ago and she called all of us. Giles hasn't been missing for very long and suddenly you show up, all ready to help!"

Ethan cocked an eyebrow and simply regarded the boy before him for a moment. "Ripper and I were very close. We sharedmagics, quite often. Sometimes I can feel him, such as when he's in trouble. The reverse is also true I'm sure, though I doubt he ever mentioned that aspect of his past to you and your friends, young man. Now, why are we wasting time? Let's find Ripper!"


	5. Chapter Four: Hidden Nature

Chapter Four: Hidden Nature

In the interests of letting the entire group see what was going on, Ethan found a large bowl in Giles' kitchen and filled it with water. He placed it on the counter separating the two rooms and everyone sat on the stools around it. Ethan also raided Giles' supply of magical ingredients, which had been in a small box on the bottom shelf of the bedroom bookcase. He started putting the spell components together as he explained what he was doing to the Scoobies.

"What I'm casting is a scrying spell that locks onto a specific target and shows it to us in the water. Once we find the target, Ripper in this case, we can um, I suppose you might call it zooming in or out, to see what's going on around him, find out where he is. The spell includes sound so if anything's being discussed, we'll hear it. The biggest problem is that in order for me to work this so that all of us can see and hear what's going, the scrying will be relatively easy to detect. That's what this extra stuff is for." He indicated some herbs and a few things the gang didn't really want him to identify. They looked like body parts of some kind or another, of unknown origin and species. Ethan starting chopping those into small pieces, mixing them with the herbs and dumping the whole mess into the bowl, where it settled at the bottom beneath the water. He also muttered a few phrases in a language none of them knew, though Spike narrowed his eyes slightly, as if he could almost, but not quite, recognize it.

"That's an added spell that should mask the rather obvious signature of the scrying spell. It won't hold up if they have someone actively looking for a scrying spell, but that's a remote possibility. So, let's see what we can find out, shall we?"

Making a few passes over the water with his hands, Ethan muttered a few more incomprehensible words, and then touched the center of the water with his finger. Radiating from the point his finger had contacted, the water lit up brightly. When the ripples and the light faded, Giles' face was clearly visible on the surface. Ethan made a few hand gestures and the view shifted, moving backwards until they could see the entire room that Giles was in.

Stripped to the waist, the Watcher was tied to a chair in the center of a small, otherwise bare room. His body clearly showed signs of having been beaten recently and there were what appeared to be cuts and burn marks ranging all over his skin. His face was haggard but composed as he stared defiantly into the eyes of his captor, who looked nothing like the gang expected a five hundred year old Master Vampire to look.

He was short, only about five foot five, and he was thin, almost reedy. Beginning to bald and dressed in a rather nice three piece suit, he looked like a banker, not an evil demon. But his face sported the obvious ridges and fangs of a vampire, not to mention the golden irises. Judging by his position in the room, this was definitely the one in charge.

The banker vamp was standing directly in front of Giles, about two feet away. There were two vampire guards at the door, and two more standing next to and slightly behind the secured human. From the wicked looking dagger with blood on the blade that one of them carried and the still-glowing metal rod in the hands of the other, it was evident that these two were the ones who were doing the actually torturing.

The group collectively leaned forward as they watched, trying to find a clue as to where this scene was taking place and trying to hear the rather faint words being spoken by the vampire in charge.

"quite impressed. You have taken great pain and still you have not given me any of your knowledge. You have not even revealed whether you know anything that would be of use to me. But still, the fact that your name appears in the prophecy is telling."

Giles gave a dry chuckle that rattled in his throat. "Just because you see my name written in another language doesn't mean it's referring to me. Those words just happen to be spelled the same, that's all. The translation makes no mention of me."

Gregory smiled. "Ah! He speaks! And he speaks such good sense that I have to wonder if you're trying to mislead me." His eyes glittered cruelly. "So I have invited one of my allies to help me question you. Now that you are actually answering, it would seem to be time for him to join us." He said a few words to one of the guards at the door, who left the room. Inside the room there was only silence punctuated at intervals by Giles' breathing, which fortunately did not appear to be labored.

A few minutes passed and then the guard returned, preceded by the blue skinned demon who had captured the Watcher. The demon inclined his head in greeting to Gregory, who returned the gesture before once again facing his captive. "This is my ally. He is a Nathlar and has a rather unique ability concerning auras."

Giles' brows knit together as he frowned, obviously putting that piece of information to use. Gregory noticed and nodded, pleased with the demonstrated intelligence. "I see you begin to understand. A Nathlar is able to copy an aura. For a moment in your living quarters, it was as if he were you. And so, when he invited my minions to enter, since he did so with your aura, it was as if you yourself had issued the invitation."

The demon, wearing an anticipatory smile, moved to stand directly in front of Giles. Rupert found that he couldn't look away as the blue hands came down to rest on either side of his forehead. His eyes grew round and fixed, staring directly into those of the demon. Gregory's smile grew wider when he saw the human's reaction.

"There is another aspect to his aura skills. My friend will be able to tell me if you are lying by the shifting in your aura. He tells me that you have an intriguing aura, by the way. He's quite pleased to be able toplay with it. So, let us start this over. Do you know the language that the original prophecy is in?"

Giles didn't make a sound, simply stared into the Nathlar's eyes. Gregory motioned to the two vampires behind Giles. The one with the heated metal rod grinned and touched the fired end lightly to the Watcher's shoulder. Giles gave off a shout, short and full of agony, as the brand burned his skin. There were tears of pain in his eyes. Gregory simply cocked his head expectantly.

Drawing a few deep breaths, still unable to look away from the penetrating gaze of the demon, Giles admitted, "I do know the language." The Nathlar studied him for a moment and then nodded to Gregory, whose eyes shone with delight. He quickly continued the questioning. "Is the translation accurate?"

Giles hesitated and the dagger, still wet and red with his blood, was brought down to rest against his chest, idly scratching his skin without breaking it. Swallowing, not wishing to feel more pain so soon, Giles said, "Yes, it is accurate."

The Nathlar took longer this time to study the human in its grasp. His eyes narrowed as if trying to get past a difficulty or figure out a puzzle. After a minute or so, he looked to Gregory and nodded again.

"Very well," said Gregory, "Tell me what you think the prophecy means, why your name is mentioned in it."

Giles' whole body trembled but he stayed silent. The dagger started to cut thin red lines into his flesh but he didn't say a thing, didn't even give voice to the pain he was suffering. The dagger continued to cut patterns on his chest, the lines growing ever deeper and more painful, until suddenly, the Nathlar seized the dagger and shouted, "Stop!"

Gregory stared at his ally in surprise. "What's wrong?"

The Nathlar shook his head. "I'm not sure. There's something about this one. His aura ismisleading. Even as he speaks the truth, I sense a lie. Even when he says nothing at all, his aura sings of a lie told. He is hiding something of his very nature, lying about himself. How is he doing that?"

Gregory blinked and then began to think. The vampire who had been carving into Giles returned to his former position behind the human. Giles himself watched both Gregory and the Nathlar with wide, frightened eyes. His breathing was fast and he was trembling. Then Gregory waved his hands in a complicated pattern and touched his captive's shoulder. The results were immediate and astounding.

Giles' face shimmered for an instant and then melted, the features rearranging themselves. His ears grew delicate and pointed, his eyes shifted to a slight exotic slant. His hair lengthened to his shoulders and darkened to a deep brown with red highlights. The irises of his eyes were now a shimmery silver and his skin seemed to be dusted with rainbows. His face lost lines and appeared decades younger. All in all, he was still obviously Rupert Giles, just as he was obviously not human.

Gregory nodded to himself in satisfaction. "Hiding his nature indeed. He was wearing a glamour. Now this certainly makes things interesting."


	6. Chapter Five: Explanations

Chapter Five: Explanations

In Giles' kitchen, there was stunned silence and then sudden babbling, drowning out the sound from the scrying spell, though it continued to work despite the lack of attention.

"That's Giles!"

"That can't be Giles!"

"What is he?"

"What're they going to do?"

"He looks bloody edible!"

They all shut up and looked at Spike, who shrugged. "What? I can't have an appreciation for beauty?" Ethan looked at Spike admiringly, as if sharing a secret, while Buffy rolled her eyes. "Okay, thinking about my Watcher like that is totally eww. I mean, he's way old and he'she's Giles!"

Xander nodded but Willow looked slightly thoughtful. Then she looked at Tara, her face melted into a sappy smile and she turned back to the group with other things than Giles' attractiveness on her mind. "Mr. Rayne? Do you know what Giles is? What species? I mean, it doesn't make sense if he's a demon. Why would he be a Watcher, help Buffy and everything?"

All eyes turned to the Chaos Magician, who sighed a ran a hand through his hair. "No, Ripper isn't a demon. In fact, he has just as much reason to fight them as all of you do. Humans aren't the only ones demons go after." He stopped, went to Giles' fridge and grabbed a bottle of imported beer, the kind he knew Ripper would have on hand. "Right then. You know earth isn't the only plane of existence. You live on a Hellmouth, you must know the concept of other worlds. You mostly encounter the denizens of what we call Hell dimensions. But there are other realities too, all interconnected. And the inhabitants often cross into our world, the Mortal plane. Ripper's from one of those."

Xander shrugged, "So why would he come here?"

"To learn. Ripper loves knowledge, surely you've seen this. And his people have problems with demons. So he came to earth to study, to learn about demons, how to fight them. Since this is the Mortal realm and is one of the closest planes to the Hell dimensions, most demons come here instead of other realities, which are harder for them to reach. Consequently, the best place to learn about demons, besides going to Hell of course, is this world. Becoming a Watcher was the best way to learn the most I suppose. I have to admit, for a bunch of stuffy old bastards, they know their business."

Spike blew out a puff of smoke, looking bored. He waved his hand in a keep going gesture. "Fine, fine, all well and good. The Watcher bloke came to learn. You said his people have problems with demons, but you still haven't mentioned what his "people" are. Get on with it, mate."

Ethan nodded, "Yes, you're right of course. And we have to get to Ripper as soon as possible. Now that he's revealed, they'll make sure they don't lose him. You see, Ripper is"

"A Faerie!" The Nathlar sounded delighted and sinister at the same time. He was practically leering at the transformed Giles. "Gregory, I had told you I would name my price for assisting you with my skills. I want him."

Gregory shrugged, "Of course. He's yours. I've heard things about Faeries. If only a third of them are true, you will enjoy him for a long time indeed. I only ask that you still help us get the information I need from him. He must know something about the prophecy. He even knows the language it's in."

The blue skinned demon nodded, an anticipatory smile on its face. "Oh, he will provide me with much satisfaction, my friend." He stroked the Faerie's cheek, causing Giles to flinch away. "And don't worry, we will find out what he knows, if we have to pull it from him piece by bloody piece."

He ran his fingers crudely down Giles' chest, twisting the nipples painfully. The Watcher had a look of wild fear on his face, now that he'd been revealed. He closed his eyes and concentrated, his lips moving silently. Then suddenly, the Nathlar stumbled and fell forwards into the chair where Giles had been bound. Where he was bound no longer. The chair was empty, the ropes fallen slackly to the ground. There was now a large, light brown falcon flying in the room. It veered quickly to the still-open door and flew into the corridor, trying to find a way out.

There were gasps of shock from around the water bowl as the Scoobies watched their mentor turn into a bird. Since the spell was fixed on Giles, they could still see him, or rather the falcon, wheeling around a maze of hallways, avoiding any demon or vampire that tried to catch it. Ethan watched the water carefully, trying to see something that would tell him where the lair was located. They had to get Ripper out of there.

The teenagers however, were getting over their shock and bombarding Ethan with questions. Most were variations of "How'd he do that?" and "Why didn't he do that sooner?" Surprisingly, Ethan didn't have to turn his attention from the scrying bowl as Spike was the one who answered.

"He's a Faerie, isn't he. All the Fae can turn into an animal. It's part of their magic. But only Faeries can do it. If he'd turned into the bird before, he would've given himself away, wouldn't he? Doesn't sound like a smart plan to me. But now they know what he is. Believe me, mates, it's better for him to get out of there however he can."

Buffy's eyes narrowed, "What do you mean? What do you know?"

Spike rolled his eyes but continued with the explanation. "Never saw a Faerie myself but I've heard all about them. Most vamps have. They're sort of a demon legend. It's rare to find one. There aren't too many of them around and they're quite good at magic, not to mention that little turning into an animal trick. But if a demon does find one of the Fae, it'll do its best to capture them. See, the stories say that they make incredible slaves. Real sensual like. Plus they're immortal, heal real quick, so you can hurt them quite a lot without killing them. Angelus said he'd met a demon once who had a Faerie slave and that he'd gotten to play with her for a while." Spike smiled lazily. "Told great stories about that he did, sounded right wonderful."

Willow and Tara stared at Spike wide-eyed, Buffy's mouth was hanging open, and Xander kept opening his and then closing it as if he couldn't quite figure out what to say. Ethan shook his head in annoyance, "Yes, yes, now that you all understand why we have to get Ripper out of there as soon as we can, could you possibly try and help me figure out where they are? I can't rescue Ripper if I don't know where he is and you lot know this town better than I do. If there's something that'll help us, you'll be more likely to spot it."

The group nodded a bit shamefully and turned their attention back to the water bowl. The falcon was still flying through featureless corridors but now the vampires that were after it were armed. Most had nets of different sorts, some had spears, and a few had crossbows. Another turn and suddenly the group could see windows as the falcon darted past them. They were closed so the Giles-bird ignored them in favor of staying out of the way of the guards.

Wincing as one, the group watched a vampire let loose with a crossbow bolt that found its mark in Giles' left wing. The falcon faltered, screeched out in agony, and fell to the ground, in front of one of the windows. The vampires immediately surrounded the bird and three of them threw their nets over him, preventing a second escape. While everyone waited for Gregory and the Nathlar to arrive, Ethan was looking intently at the window, his eyes narrowed.

"Isn't that a shopping center near a few apartment buildings?"

His words grabbed the teenagers' attention and they started studying the view provided by the window . Xander was the first to speak up. "Yeah, I recognize it. My mom shops there sometimes." Buffy nodded in agreement.

Spike smirked, rolling his almost gone cigarette between his fingers. "Then we just gotta figure out what building'll give a view like that, don't we? Oi, but that can wait, right? This here's getting interesting." His eyes were fixed on the water bowl and everyone again turned their attention to the images provided by the spell.

Gregory and his demon friend had arrived. The Nathlar was carrying manacles. With a gesture, Gregory commanded the nets be taken off the falcon, but the weapons remained trained on it. Giles remained still, except for a slight fluttering from his injured wing. Gregory smirked, which was extremely out of place on the face that looked like a balding bank teller's. "You're caught, Watcher-Faerie, you might as well change back now and save all of us some time and trouble."

The bird hesitated and then lowered its head. Then, in its place stood Giles, his right hand holding his left upper arm from which an arrow protruded. Blood flowed down his arm and dripped off his finger to the floor. His face looked pale and fearful and yet, slightly resigned as well. The Nathlar stepped forward and held up the manacles. Giles eyed them warily and moved a half-step away from the demon. The weapons aimed at him never wavered. He sighed and then held both his hands out.

The Nathlar grinned, a sinister expression, and chained Giles' wrists. The manacles were each about an inch and a half wide and were connected by a foot long chain. Giles bowed his head in defeat, but the Nathlar took hold of his chin and held it up, looking into his eyes.

"Cold iron to hold you and keep you from working your magics. I've always heard wonderful things about Faerie slaves and you're beautiful enough to make me think the rumors underrated things." He tugged the chain, pulling Giles behind him as he walked swiftly back down the hallways. "Come, my lovely, there is still the little matter of a prophecy and what you might know of it."


	7. Chapter Six: Captivity

AN: Warning: This chapter should probably be considered NC-17 for fairly graphic rape.

Chapter Six: Captivity

Rupert Giles staggered and then fell to his knees as a hand on the small of his back pushed him hard through a doorway. He tried to catch himself, but his chained hands hindered mobility. He did manage to prevent himself before falling completely flat on his face but it might not have been worth the effort. His left arm still had the crossbow bolt stuck in it and the jarring it took washed waves of pain over his mind. Gritting his teeth and clenching his eyes shut, Giles rode out the pain until it once again became a throbbing ache instead of piercing agony.

Only then did he open his eyes and look about him. The room wasn't very remarkable. Small and square, it held a small pallet on the floor, a wooden table and chair that looked as if they couldn't possibly have made later than the Middle Ages, and a large metal basin that was situated under a water tap and next to a drain in the floor. One small corner of the room was blocked from view by a rollaway screen, obviously intended to provide a scant touch of privacy. Or perhaps it was simply to make the occupant think they had privacy as they attended to the needs of their body. All along the room, at strategic intervals, such as next to the pallet and by the basin that was apparently meant to serve as a tub, were metal rings set firmly into the walls.

Giles swallowed, fearful. This was obviously intended as a long-term prison cell and he was the designated occupant. Then he took a deep breath and set his face into a passive mask. He would not allow his captors the satisfaction of knowing his fear. However, the emotion was justified. Rupert was a young Faerie but he was still a pure-blood member of the Fae. There was a reason he had been sent to the Mortal realm to learn as much as he could about fighting demons. Faeries were often hunted, taken as slaves. The younger the captive the better, but demons would take any they could find. The reason was that, when deprived of their magic by cold iron, Faeries were helpless yet still virtually immortal. They could be made to do a great deal, could be beaten regularly, but they would heal fast and still be there for more tasks, more torment. There was alsobut Giles tried not to think about that reason, even though he knew he would encounter it soon.

The Nathlar strolled a few steps into the room and then turned to Gregory, who was waiting outside the door, a piece of paper in his hand. The blue-skinned demon smiled and took the paper, which Giles could now see was a copy of the prophecy. "I'll find out what he knows about this, I promise you." He moved closer to Giles, who was still on his knees, and grasped the Faerie's chin, holding it painfully at an unnatural angle. Giles fought to keep his face blank. "I'll take a great deal of enjoyment doing so. He's such a pretty little thing."

Gregory nodded, his eyes cold and hard. At that point it was simple to see the demon behind the mundane exterior. Giles felt an inner shiver. These were the two who were in charge of his fate. He was bound with cold iron. He could feel it leeching his magics, locking them away from his touch. Plus, he didn't know where he was. He'd been too busy fleeing to look out the windows and he hadn't been allowed to orient himself at all. He hoped that Buffy would be able to find him, but he wasn't completely certain she could. After all, her strong point was fighting the demons, not finding them.

When Gregory left and had closed the door, leaving Giles and his tormentor alone, the demon's face twisted into a horribly cruel mask, his mouth grinning and his eyes shining with gleeful anticipation. Still holding his new slave by the chin, he tilted Giles' face to look at him. "I'll get what I want, be sure of that, little Faerie. Before I'm done, you'll be screaming all you know to get me to stop." His voice grated and Giles wanted to flinch from the sound of it, but didn't dare.

Grabbing the chain that bound Giles' manacles together, the Nathlar dragged the Watched over to the metal basin. He first dropped the paper onto the small table and then turned the water taps to begin filling tub. He then fastened the middle of the chain to the ring in the wall. There was a special clip on each ring made just for this use. Taking the arrow in his hand, he broke the shaft and pulled it out of Giles' arm. Smiling at the grunt of agony he'd forced from the Watcher, he turned back to Giles and laid a hand softly on his throat, stroking lightly. Giles swallowed deeply as he felt sharp talons barely grazing his vulnerable skin. The Nathlar smiled even wider at his discomfort. "Are you afraid I'll injure you, pretty one? You're right, I will. But first, I want to see you."

He flexed his hand and then moved it slowly down Giles' naked chest to come to rest on the waistband of his trousers. Then, in a move so sudden that Giles couldn't even flinch away, the demon used his talons to tear the remaining clothing off. Giles stood there, his hands locked to the wall, his eyes wide, naked. The Nathlar smirked and all but purred as he looked his prize up and down with a long, lingering stare. "Oh yes, we will have such fun. Get in," he ordered, indicating the makeshift tub with a nod of his head.

Not knowing what else to do or how to resist, Giles complied, climbing into the water gracefully, seemingly unconcerned by his naked state, though that was far from the truth. He sat gingerly, not trusting to the sturdiness of the basin. Sitting down, with his knees bent about halfway, the water reached midway up his chest. His arms were still chained to the wall, so he had to hold them over the side of the tub, quite an awkward position and one that left him vulnerable, which was no doubt the purpose. He held himself stiffly, knowing what would come.

Sure enough, a blue hand clutching a rough washing cloth dipped into the water. After getting the cloth soaked, the demon began to bathe his captive. Giles sat tensely as the cloth was rubbed over his skin, starting with the blood on his arm and then moving to the rets of him. His captor was unnecessarily abrasive and the soft skin quickly began to redden from the abuse. The demon paid special attention to Giles' nipples, making sure they were abraded almost to the point of bleeding, and to his genitals, managing to coax a groan of pain from Giles at the rough handling of that sensitive region.

Just as suddenly as it had began, the crude bath was ended, the Nathlar pulling the cloth away and grabbing Giles' shoulder. "Get out." Silent, Giles obeyed, climbing slowly out of the basin, trying not to splash any water. He sensed that any excuse to punish him would be pounced upon and with the torture he knew he was already facing, he wasn't about to give his captor more reasons to hurt him. The Nathlar tipped the basin and the water swirled into the drain placed on the floor by the wall. Then he unhooked the chain binding Giles to the wall and dragged him over a few feet to the pallet. There he gave a sharp tug that forced the Watcher to his knees and attached the chain to another ring that was only about a foot off the floor. That meant that if Giles laid down, his hands would still be held half a foot above him.

After attaching the chain, the Nathlar grabbed Giles by the shoulders, his talons creating deep scrapes in the skin, and pushed his upper body to the pallet's surface. Giles wasn't strong enough to resist and he was shortly in a painful position, on his knees, his ass raised high, his head against the floor but his hands held stretched above and away from him. The Nathlar began running his hands over Giles' body in what might have been caresses except that he left bloody grooves in his wake. Giles concentrated on holding still, trying not to let himself feel what was happening.

As the Nathlar's sharp claws began playing with his slave's buttocks, he laughed harshly, "It's said that Faeries are quite sensual. That fucking one is better than any other pleasure. Let's find out." Giles couldn't stop a small shudder as the hands suddenly left him and he heard the unmistakable sounds of clothing being removed. He knew of that rumor. It was another reason why Faerie captives, Faerie slaves, were so highly sought among demons. Even some humans, those who knew about the other worlds and their denizens, attempted to catch themselves one of the Fae.

Feeling a hardness pressing against his opening, Giles bit his lip, determined not to cry out. It was so large and hurt so much! Both the pressure and the pain increased as the Nathlar pushed himself steadily into his slave. Finally, with one final thrust, he was buried deeply in Giles' ass, as deep as he could go. He stayed still for a few moments, enjoying the panting coming from beneath him as Giles attempted to accustom himself to the pain. Then he pulled out quickly and thrust back in, starting a hard and punishing rhythm. His hands gripped the Watcher's hips, holding him in place, talons sinking into flesh. Giles could not hold back his moans of pain, but they never became the screams that were threatening to break forth.

His rapist continued to pound into Giles, his sharp talons ripping into his flesh. He leaned forward, his lips right against his victim's ear. "Tell me what we need. Tell me what you know. This can be so much worse. I'll just have to getcreative." Giles shuddered in time with the Nathlar, just as he released his seed deep in Giles' body. He knew the demon was right. It was only going to get worse.


	8. Chapter Seven: To the Rescue

Chapter Seven: To the Rescue

As soon as they watched Giles get chained and dragged off, Ethan had terminated the scrying spell and everyone had armed themselves heavily. They were obviously going into a vampire stronghold and it wasn't possible to have too many weapons for that. Then they all headed out. Xander and Buffy led the way, knowing the shopping plaza they were headed for. Willow and Tara were in the center of the group, partially as a protection for the two with the least physical power in a fight. Ethan and Spike brought up the rear, Spike walking eagerly yet seemingly unconcerned, and Ethan stalking dangerously with a ferocious scowl on his face. Everyone was glad that they weren't the ones who had upset him.

It took about a half hour to walk across town from Giles' apartment complex to the plaza they'd recognized in the water bowl. The time at just a little past sunset, it was dark, the moon playing hide and seek behind clouds. At first there hadn't been many people out. Residents of Sunnydale learned quickly that going out alone in the residential areas was a fast way to a funeral. But as the Scoobies got closer to downtown, there were better lit streets and more people, most smart enough to be in groups. Still, all six of them knew that there were demons in the shadows, waiting to pick off a meal from the pack. On a normal patrol, Buffy would have been going after them, but this wasn't a normal night. Right now, there was a Watcher to rescue.

By the time they reached the shopping plaza, Buffy had been looking around her with confusion in her eyes. "Guys, for the past block or so, I haven't noticed any demons or vamps or anything. There's no hunting going on."

Xander frowned, "But on the way over, it was just normal. I mean, I even saw a few fledglings try to hide when they spotted you."

Buffy nodded, her face showing her worry, "I know, but in this one area. . .nothing."

Spike rolled his eyes and flicked another of his smokes through the air to land somewhere in a pool of shadow. "Just proves this vamp's smarter than most."

Ethan nodded to himself as the teenagers all stared at the bleached blonde. Spike smirked and nodded at them. "What better way to keep the Slayer off your back and away from your hideout? Don't let anyone be killed near it. That way," and he looked at Buffy, "you'll concentrate on places where people are dying and stay away from him completely. This git's brilliant, you ask me. Wish I'd thought of it."

Xander snorted, "Yeah, you would."

Ethan sighed and put a hand to the bridge of his nose, looking remarkably like Giles when he was exasperated. "Children, please. Now, which building around here would give us the view we're looking for?" Everyone nodded, dropped the bickering that had barely begun, and started to look around, trying to calculate angles in their heads. Not surprisingly, it was Willow who first figured it out.

She pointed to a rather plain, three-story building that was across the street and about half a block away. "That must be it. The third floor is high enough to account to the height difference we saw and it's situated the right way. It's between the plaza and all the other high buildings on that side so it's blocking their view." Tara smiled at her girlfriend's wits and squeezed Willow's hand.

Buffy started moving immediately. "So let's go kick some demon butt!" The group hefted their weapons and followed her.

"W-wait." Tara's voice was soft but everyone stopped and turned to her. She flushed under the attention but Willow's silent encouragement helped her continue. "The bottom floor's a store, see? A-and Mr. Giles must be on the third floor. If we go in and fight our way to the top wouldn't they know we're here? They m-might hurt him more, maybe even k-kill him."

Buffy bit her lip, now unsure of what to do. "So, we have to get to the top floor and surprise them. We can't climb the wall and I don't see a fire escape. Any suggestions?"

Spike chuckled, "You could always learn to fly, Slayer."

Buffy slapped the back of his head but Ethan looked thoughtful. "That might possibly work." He looked at Willow and Tara. "I know a levitation spell but it takes quite a bit of energy. If I use it on all of us, I'll be worthless. However, perhaps if we three cast it together, we'd have enough power leftover to help the fight afterwards."

The two witches looked at each other for a moment and then Tara nodded. Willow followed suit, "Shouldn't be a problem."

Ethan took each of their hands so they formed a small circle. "It's mostly a mental spell, so just concentrate on supplying the power, I'll say the words." Then they all went into a light trance as Ethan chanted in Sumerian. Buffy, Xander, and Spike simply watched, Spike with a bored look on his face. That changed to surprise when he suddenly found himself rising into the air. "Oi, what's this then?"

Buffy rolled her eyes, "Hello? Levitation spell? What did you think would happen?"

Spike shrugged, "Didn't actually think about it, ducks. Figured we'd have some kind of warning though."

The three spell-casters still had their hands clasped together but now their eyes were open as they willed the group to a window on the third floor. Xander raised the ax he'd brought and shattered the glass. The group then levitated through the now-open window and came to stand on the floor of a hallway. Luckily, no one had as yet seen them. Ethan and the two witches breathed deeply and then released hands, coming out of their trance, only slightly winded. The took up their weapons and looked around. It was then that they realized they had no idea where in the maze of halls Giles was being held.

Buffy turned to Ethan, "Can't you cast another spell or something?" Ethan shook his head. "A locator spell takes ingredients I don't have. It's why I used the scrying spell back at Ripper's flat."

"Then how do we find him?!" Xander's voice raised sharply in worry.

Spike sniffed the air a few times and everyone turned to him, wondering what he was doing. He smiled at them, a slow, feral expression. His eyes were turning gold and his fangs were dropping down as he shifted into game-face. "I can find the Watcher. I can smell him. Just follow me."

The group took off after the vampire, running down hallways and taking what seemed to be indiscriminate turns. As they ran, they were spotted and had to slow down to fight the various vampires and demons who tried to defend their master's home. Buffy waded in easily, wielding a stake in one hand and a crossbow in the other. Spike just grinned and went after the minions with his bare hands, enjoying the carnage he caused. Willow and Tara were using small combat magics and Xander was defending them with his ax. Ethan had a look of pure rage on his face as he dusted the vampires with both a stake and magic spells. More enemies kept coming as the alarm was raised, but the group was steadily making their way through the halls, getting closer to their goal.

Then Spike threw another demon into the wall and knocked down the door it had been in front of. The rest followed him in and were shocked at what they saw. The Faerie they knew as Giles was kneeling on a thin pallet, his hands stretched behind him, chained to the wall. There was blood all over him as he was covered with scratches and welts. The Nathlar, the blue-skinned demon they'd seen in the scrying bowl, was bent over a table, writing something. His talons were bright red with Giles' blood.

The Watcher was naked and trembling. He'd been speaking but as the door burst open, his voice, rough from screaming, trailed away and he stared in shock at his rescuers. The Nathlar whirled around, showing that his pants were still open and giving clear evidence of what he'd been doing to his captive. He didn't get a chance for anything more than knock his notebook to the floor in surprise as Ethan, his eyes blazing with anger, raised his hand, spoke three words, and then pointed at the Nathlar, who very spectacularly turned into a flaming pillar. Giles' eyes grew wide as he stared at the sorcerer. Then Buffy was at his side, easily breaking the chains.

Xander clutched has ax, standing in the doorway, keeping watch. They'd finished with the demons who'd come against them but no one doubted that there'd be more. Buffy helped Giles to his feet, grabbing a ratty blanket that had been on the pallet and throwing it around his shoulders. He swayed, but stayed upright. She started planning on how to get everyone out of the building.

"Willow, Tara, you help Giles. The rest of us will keep you safe and get us out of here." The group nodded, not wasting words. The young couple moved quickly to either side of Giles and started escorting him out of the room. The others all formed a circle around them. Giles shook his head, "No, wait." His voice creaked and everyone stared at him. They were understandably confused. Didn't he want to get out as soon as possible? Giles made a move towards the small table, but stumbled and almost fell. His eyes fell on Ethan, pleading. "The prophecy. We need to take to it with us."

Ethan nodded and quickly grabbed the small computer printout and stuffed it into his pocket. No one noticed the notebook that lay on the floor. Buffy nodded, "Fine, let's get out of here."


	9. Chapter Eight: Interlude

Chapter Eight: Interlude

Gregory growled in rage and several minions backed into the wall, trying to be as invisible as possible. The Master Vampire wasn't known for unnecessarily killing those in his ranks but none of them had ever seen him this upset. Stalking ferally around his audience chamber, Gregory shouted his fury to the air.

"How could you let them escape? They killed over a third of my allies and almost half my minions! My Nathlar friend is burnt up and the Faerie is gone!" His eyes narrowed as his turned to glare at each and every vampire currently in the room with him. They in turn, attempted to meld themselves into the wall. They failed of course. "And now! Now they have the prophecy! The Slayer and her friends have the chance to find the bracelet before I do! How could you let this happen?"

The door to the large room suddenly opened and Gregory whirled, ready to attack the one who dared intrude on his outburst. The minions all winced as they expected this new vampire to be stabbed to dust for the temerity of the act he had just committed. The vampire himself paled even more than usual as he realized just how volatile a situation he had placed himself into. But that didn't stop him from clearing his throat and croaking out his message, "MasterMaster, we found something that was left behind"

Posed to jump at the newcomer, Gregory stopped short. His eyes narrowed as he considered this new information. "And just what was found, my loyal servant?" His voice was a dangerous purr, telegraphing the need for this message to be extremely important or the consequences would be dire indeed.

The vampire swallowed dryly, but bravely continued on. "A notebook, Master Gregory, that the Nathlar had been writing in. It fell to the floor during the uh, during the rescue. The Slayer didn't take it with her." He held a slim, ordinary notebook to the more powerful vampire, his hand trembling slightly in fear.

Snatching the notebook violently from his minion, Gregory turned and paced the room, scanning the pages as he moved. The other vampires all stayed very still, hoping not to attract any attention, when they all jumped as a sudden peal of laughter broke forth. Gregory laughed for about a minute before calming down. Then his face lit with a smile of unholy glee.

"Oh yes, this is valuable indeed. It seems the Slayer was not quick enough. My Nathlar friend got all I needed from the Watcher before they rescued him." Voice dropping to a low growl, full of anticipation, Gregory added, "It seems our pretty Faerie did indeed lie when he told me his name in the prophecy meant nothing. Apparently, he is the one it describes, the keeper of the very bracelet I seek. Oh yes, my "young lordling," you will be seeing me again." He started laughing gleefully again as the minions all looked at each other in relief and sneaked quietly out of the room.


	10. Chapter Nine: Solving Riddles

Chapter Nine: Solving Riddles

Ethan sat on the edge of Giles' bed, gently stroking the Faerie's long hair. He wore a wistful expression as he gazed down at the unconscious man. The Scoobies had managed to get their watcher home with no mishaps. They'd even managed to kill more vampires on the way out of the building, always a plus in their minds. Once home, Giles' strength had given out and he had fainted. Buffy had put him to bed while Willow and Tara had brewed a healing salve that Ethan had given them a recipe for. Ethan himself had worked some minor healing spells to take care of the worst of his old mate's injuries. When finished, the salve had been rubbed onto the scratches and burns that were left. Now the group were all ranged around Giles' bedroom, waiting for him to wake up and give an explanation.

Willow, Tara, and, surprisingly, Spike, were looking over the prophecy they'd brought back with them, trying to figure out what it meant. Ethan didn't really listen to them talking it over; he concentrated his attention on Ripper.

"Okay, look at the first three lines," Willow explained. She quoted, "'Beside the deep waters of calming, where the winter wind never blows cold, the barriers between worlds will be weakened.' That's why that vampire is here. It means Sunnydale. Deep waters of calming,' that's the Pacific ocean. I mean, it's pretty much just a translation of the name. Then, where the winter wind never blows cold,' that's a pretty good description of Southern California. The third line's the kicker though. the barriers between worlds will be weakened.' That's the Hellmouth! I mean, that's all it really is, a place to cross from one dimension to another, and the safeguards in place to keep that from happening, well, they're totally weaker here than the rest of the world. Otherwise, demons would probably be overrunning earth by now."

Spike nodded, not being sarcastic for once. "Right then, we've got the place. Well, the next line's easy. A demon wearing mortal guise.' Got to be a vampire. We're demons, but we're in human bodies. We even look human most of the time."

"Yeah, until you do that creepy grr thing with the ridges and the glow in the dark eyes. Hey! Like cats! And cats have fangs. Think you're related?" Xander blinked as everyone stared at him. "What? It's a legitimate question."

Spike rolled his eyes, "Rather be a cat than a human, mate, if you're the example I've got to go by." He looked down over Willow's shoulder again, reading the paper she held. "'The band of shielding that prevents all blows to the wearer.' Well, that's a bit of a riddle, innit?"

Buffy snorted, "Like we haven't come across magical jewelry before. You had one yourself, that Ring of Whatever. If you could walk in the sun while wearing that thing, I bet this, it sounds like a bracelet or something, makes someone invincible. Not a good thing for a vamp to find. I bet I wouldn't be able to stake him at all, he'd really be immortal. We have to stop this baddie from getting this band thing."

"Great," Xander groaned. "So we know this magical bracelet is in Sunnydale and this new vamp is looking for it. So how do we stop him? We've got to find it first, right? How do we do that? What do the last lines mean?"

Tara glanced at the paper and read, "' There the key to the band will be living, the young lordling, the studious rebel, who might prevent or aid the band's loss.' T-the key? S-someone who knows where it is?"

"So who is it?" Buffy practically vibrated with impatience.

"Well, it says the young lordling, the studious rebel.' I don't know about the second part, but young lordling would indicate a noble, right? Like in kingdoms, a prince or duke or something." Willow looked rather put out that she hadn't figured out the meaning of the entire riddle by now.

"Nobles?" Xander scoffed, "This is America! We don't have princes or anything."

Spike laughed, "Bloody hell, whelp! You don't think that matters do you? You got people coming here from all over, right? Some not even from this world, this being the Hellmouth and all. I mean, you got three blokes from England sitting right in front of you!" He cast his gaze to the prone figure on the bed. "Well, at least two from England, not sure where Faeries come from."

Buffy jumped in, ignoring his last comment, "Okay, so whoever it is who has the bracelet, or at least knows where it is, he's a noble of some kind. Isn't there anything else that can help us?"

"W-well, we do have t-the original." Everyone looked at Tara, who ducked her head and let her hair fall in front of her face, hiding her. "I-I mean, we've been reading the translation, right? W-what about the original version?"

Willow grinned and quickly kissed Tara's cheek, causing a blush to appear on the other girl's cheek. "That's it! Look," she indicated the top version of the prophecy, the one in the original language. "That's why the vamp kidnapped Giles. It wasn't just because Giles could help him figure out the meaning of this, it's because he's mentioned in the prophecy itself!" She stabbed her finger on the line and read, the foreign words coming haltingly to her tongue as she sounded them out. "'prin hosp'in kel swin rupert giles.'"

"You do realize that you are completely mangling my native language."

The dry comment, said in a hoarse voice that was a little worse for wear, shocked them all and they turned to the bed to see Giles lying there with open eyes and a very small smile quirking his lips. Ethan was also smiling, they noticed, but withtenderness?

Xander was the first to find his voice, "G-Man! You're awake!"

"I've told you not to call me that, Xander," Giles said with a sigh of long-suffering that was mostly show. It made everyone feel better that he was apparently well enough to joke. He levered himself, with Ethan's help, into a sitting position, leaning against the headboard of his bed.

"Now, I believe you were discussing a prophecy and the fact that my name appears in it." He paused as they all nodded. "It's simple enough to explain. I'm the key to the bracelet's whereabouts, I'm the lordling."


	11. Chapter Ten: The Watcher's Tale

Chapter Ten: The Watcher's Tale

Babble broke out at Giles' announcement and the Watcher simply let the voices wash over him and he sagged against the pillows at his back. Finally, one voice broke through the rest to dominant his attention.

"Why didn't you ever tell us about this? About what you are? Why didn't you tell _me_?" Buffy's voice held a hint of betrayal and the man flinched a little at the unspoken accusation of deceitfulness.

Giles sighed, "You must understand, Buffy, it is a dangerous thing to be a Faerie in this world. And you didn't need me as a magical creature, you needed me as a Watcher. There was no reason for you to know."

"But!"

Deciding to step in, Ethan roared, "Enough! Ripper is exhausted and he's been through an ordeal. Can't you let him rest before you badger him with your selfish little questions?" He started to rise from the bed, to use his height as intimidation, not really thinking that it was no use to try and intimidate a Slayer.

"No." Giles lay a hand over Ethan's and his eyes silently asked him to remain seated. Ethan did so, but with an air of great effort. Giles almost laughed at the sulky expression. Ethan was almost pouting, but his voice carried his concern. "You shouldn't have to deal with this yet. You have to heal, rest."

"Ethan, I am already healing. You know I heal fast and I can feel those spells you used. They're helping greatly. And I don't have time to rest. I told that demon about the prophecy. How long do you think it will take for that Master Vampire to try again? He desperately wants the bracelet."

"The demon's dead, mate, you don't have to worry about him." Spike's uncharacteristic expression of concern earned him a few wide-eyed glances, which he shrugged off, though he glared around the room at everyone for good measure.

"Unfortunately, Spike, I doubt that will affect things. Even if he does not know everything I told the Nathlar about the prophecy, I am still his only source of information about it. He will be back and I want everyone prepared for when he comes. That means I should tell you about my secrets." He glanced at Ethan and clutched his hand tighter. "I've dealt with this kind ofbefore and I'll deal with it now. They need to know, Ethan, and I suppose I was wrong to keep it from them for so long."

"You don't owe them anything!"

Giles nodded, "Yes, Ethan, I do, I owe them the truth."

Looking around at the group, all of them staring at him, waiting, he took a deep breath. "Well, I suppose I should ask how much you know? You figured out most of the prophecy, yes? And you know that I'm a Faerie. Is there anything else?"

"Just what the demon did to youum, I mean" Willow's voice faded as she blushed in embarrassment and ducked her head down. Giles simply nodded, "I know what he did," he said gently. "Thank you all for rescuing me. Is there anything else?"

"I told the whelps about the rumors I know about Faeries, but that isn't much. Just that you have powerful magic and are hunted for slaves." Spike lit a cigarette and Giles didn't protest, though Buffy and Xander both frowned at the bleached blond.

"All right, then. Let's start at the beginning. Faeries are near immortal magical beings who live in a world only a few planes removed from this one, where it is always summer's twilight. Near immortal, because we can be killed, but after a certain point, we do not age. Our magics are strong and inherent within us. Glamourie and deceiving spells are among our specialties and prophecy seems to be in our blood. It might not be often that one of the Fae makes a prophecy, but when we do, it is always true. And as truth is something that can be rare or fleeting in our world, that makes them all the more powerful.

"This particular prophecy is one of ours, I think it may be close to a thousand years old, but it is difficult to tell. Very little changes in Faerie and that includes the language. And time is something that is much more fluid to us than to humans.

"Faeries have several problems. We are highly sought after as slaves, though we will often try to kill ourselves rather than be taken. But this means that our population is dwindling. As immortals, we never had many children, but in the last thousand years, children have become so very rare. Only one Fae child has been born in the last three hundred and fifty years, to one of the noble families in the Queen's court.

"This child was well-loved, but one day his mother took him with her into the forest. This was not unusual, as she often went into the forest to dance and sing with the forest denizens. Many Faeries do the same. But this time, something happened..." Giles faltered and the Scoobies watched as Ethan gently rubbed his thigh, soothing him, encouraging him to continue.

"That day, and no one knows how they did it, but several demons had managed to breach the magical barriers protecting our world and enter it. They saw a Faerie woman and a young Fae child and wanted to take them both. Young children are coveted because they are easier to train, but we have so few that all of Faerie mourns when even one is lost. The woman felt she had to protect her child and so offered herself to the demons as a distraction. They were unable to resist someplaytime before stealing their prizes away and while they were busy with her, the woman managed to magically conceal her child in a tree. It was, after all, in her homeland where her magic was strongest.

"When the demons could not find the child, they took their anger out on the woman. Before they could take her with them out of Faerie, she managed to kill herself. By now, the missing mother and child had been noticed and many search parties were in the forest. This was, after all, the only Fae child and was therefore highly valued. The demons were found and bound but not in time to save the woman's life. The child, hidden in a tree, had watched it all."

Giles cleared his throat and there was a shimmering in his eyes, speaking of unfallen moisture. His tone became more impersonal as he continued.

"The child grew, his father always quite protective of him. He called his son his studious rebel as the boy loved to read and learn, but also kept sneaking out and getting into mischief. When the boy became a young man, it was decided that something more needed to be done to protect Faerie from the demons who hunted us. We no longer visited earth as we once did for fear of what might happen. It was decided that a single Faerie would be sent to learn of demons and how to defend against them. The young Fae, being the curious lad he was, volunteered to be the one to go."

Everyone was quietly listening to the story, keeping their thoughts to themselves until Giles finished, but they all had their own ideas about who this child was. The watcher confirmed their suspicions as he continued.

"Since he was not of age and was still quite protected by the rest of the population, it was quite a struggle for the young man to convince everyone that he was the right choice. Of course, the fact that he was so curious and that most Faeries did not have the temperament required for this kind of study, acted in his favor. Finally, it was decided that he would be the one to go.

"There are places in this world that arecloser to Faerie, that are easier for us to get to through the portals. Though the portals have been closed for many years as traffic between the Mortal plane and Faerie stopped, they are still there. Some of the easiest places for us to reach are on the British Isles. There's Wendel's Mound, several Faerie circles still unbroken, a few others. So it was decided that this Faerie would go to England. He would take on the appearance of a human and since names have power and he would give no one in this world the power of his true name, he took a human name as well.

"It was a convenience that the group of humans the Faeries were going to approach had among them a member who had recently lost his son to a tragic accident. The son had been just the right age to start training to one day join this group so the Faeries, in setting up a history for the young man, had him take the son's face and name, and they altered enough memories with magic so that people forgot the son had ever died. The father, of course, knew what was happening and agreed. We might have proceeded without his support, indeed, there are many in Faerie who would have willingly changed his memory too, but the young man did not like the idea of falsely giving a man his child back and so they asked his permission to continue the charade.

"Now, you know that the language of Faerie is quite different from any language of earth, but Destiny walks twisting paths. The name of the son the Faerie was impersonating was very similar to the nickname his father had always called him, studious rebel. In English, Rupert Giles."


	12. Chapter Eleven: Names and Ornaments

Chapter Eleven: Names and Ornaments

"SoRupert Giles isn't really your name? It's actually your, what? Faerie nickname?" Staring at Xander in exasperation, Buffy rolled her eyes. "That was pretty much his point, yeah. He couldn't use his real name here."

"Giles?" Everyone turned to look at Willow. "What is your real name? I mean, it's pretty strange to call you Giles now that we know what it means. So would you tell us your Faerie name? That is, if you trust us"

Giles smiled softly at the young witch, and then turned his head to direct the expression at all of them. "Of course I trust you, Willow Well, perhaps not Spike"

"Oi, come on, mate! I helped get you out of there! Don't that deserve something?"

"Ahem, yes, quite." One could almost hear the eye-roll in his voice. "I will tell you only if I have your oath, William, not to use my name in any way against me." The tone of his voice lowered in threat. "Or I shall use yours similarly. And I know a great many spells for true-names that you would not like cast on you."

Spike actually looked intimidated for a tiny second before grinning and flicking ash off his cigarette. The action belied the seriousness of his next words. "You have my oath, on my love for my Dark Princess, that I will not harm you through your name." The Scoobies all looked at each other, confused, but Ethan had a tinge of respect in his eyes and Giles nodded in acknowledgement.

"You've heard me called something quite close to it before, but my true name is Ri'par." He waited for them to grasp the significance of what he had just spoken.

"Ripper? You mean Ethan's been going around calling you by your real name all this time? You let Ethan know but you never told us you even had another name?!" Buffy was righteously indignant and Ethan resisted the urge to put her in her place, preferably via several painful curses. Giles, or Ri'par, apparently knew of this desire and kept his hand tight in Ethan's, preventing the Chaos Magician from doing anything but sit by the Faerie's side. That didn't stop him from speaking though.

"Ripper's my friend, little girl"

"Your friend?" Buffy scoffed. "That's why he keeps kicking the crap out of you, right?"

Ethan glared and Giles just shook his head sadly. "Don't judge what you can't understand, _Slayer_. You only just found out what Ripper is. Hasn't it occurred to you that, as with all things Fae, his past is not what it appears to be?"

"Ethan, enough. Buffy, please, do not be angry. Ethan's entirely correct. You don't understand me or my relationship with Ethan. I've only told you a very small part of our past."

"And why is that? Don't you trust me Giles?"

Ri'par's voice grew hard. "I am your _Watcher_! That does not mean you are entitled to know every detail of my life! There are things in your life that you have kept from me. I don't push you to reveal them nor do I try to prevent you from having privacy in the first place. If something bears upon your Calling, then yes, it is important. If private details will affect the fight, then they should be shared. As I am sharing now. Do not presume to think that I am yours, that every detail of my life belongs to you. I am nobody's slave, nor will I be!"

The rest of the room was eerily silent as the echoes of Giles' voice faded. Buffy looked dumbstruck, almost as if she might cry. "II'm sorry Giles. Of course you deserve your privacy. I justI don't like the idea that I never really knew you."

Giles closed his eyes for a moment and then opened them. He held his arms out to his young charge and, after a brief pause, Buffy sat heavily on the bed and hugged the older man.

"You do know me, Buffy. I didn't tell you the details of my life and I kept what I am hidden from you, but that doesn't change the fact that you know me. This is who I am. Rupert Giles, Watcher, who looks for every answer inside a musty old book and cares for his Slayer very deeply."

Buffy sniffed as she looked up into her Watcher's eyes. The eyes whose shape had altered and were placed in a subtly different face but, she could see as she stared at them, they were still the same eyes she had known, trusted, and looked up to for all these years. Then she drew back away from the bed and the comfort of Giles' arms. Forcing a smile, she looked brightly around the room. "So what's this band thing that vamp is looking for?"

Giles sighed. "The _sulon kin'de_. The band of shielding.' It's not actually a unique object, but one of several Faerie amulets. They all have quite powerful magics set into them to protect the bearer from harm. The kind of protection differs as does the shape the object is in. This particular one is a metal armband, quite like a bracelet, that wards against all physical harm. That isn't to say you can't strike the bearer at all, it's just that the strike will have no physical effect."

Spike nodded, "What we figured, mate. Hell of a thing for a vampire to get a hold of. He'll be practically invincible."

Xander frowned and then tentatively raised his hand. Eyes dancing with amusement, Giles called on him as a teacher would a student. "Yes, Xander? You have something to say?"

"A question really. I just wondered if, I meanwould this thing protect a vampire from the sun? I mean, stakes and getting your head cut off, that's physical, but the sunit doesn't have to touch the vamp to kill it, right?"

"You've been paying more attention to research than I thought." Giles' voice was rich with pride and Xander basked in it. "Yes, a vampire wearing the band would still be vulnerable to sunlight, which will be helpful if we fail to keep it safe."

"J-just how do we do that? K-keep it safe I mean?" Willow glowed as her shy girlfriend spoke up.

Blushing slightly, Giles looked down in embarrassment. "Well, we've established that I'm the young lordling of the prophecy, which means I'm the key to keeping it safe. I hadn't realized anyone would be looking for it, really"

Buffy nodded, "Okay, so where'd you hide it?" With a sharp look she added, "You did hide it, right? It's not just hanging around somewhere here?"

"It'swell, it is here and no, I didn't deliberately hide it. Though it's certainly someplace the vampire will never think to look"

Xander shook his head with impatience. "Well, out with it, Watcher Guy! How can we protect it if we don't know where it is?"

Then Ethan chimed in, "Yes, Ripper, you really should quit stalling."

Giles smiled, a secretive quirk of the lips, as he turned to Ethan with an eyebrow raised. "Ethan, haven't you guessed yet? You're usually much quicker than this. It's an armband, it's here, but not hidden, and it protects the bearer from physical harm." He left it at that and just stared at the other man expectantly.

Eyes going wide, Ethan stared at Ripper, unaware that all other eyes were on himself. Then he put a hand to his left sleeve and pulled it up to his shoulder, revealing an intricately-worked metal armband decorated with carved leaves and runes. Giles smirked, "Took you long enough."


	13. Chapter Twelve: Past Tokens

Chapter Twelve: Past Tokens

Eyes twinkling, Ri'par waited until Ethan got over his shock. "This? This is what all the fuss is about? But you gave it to me years ago!"

The Faerie dipped his head in acknowledgement. "As I said, I was unaware that there would ever be a great search to find it. It is mine to give and I wanted you to have it. A keepsake." Ri'par and Ethan stared into each other's eyes, words unspoken as something deep and meaningful passed between them. The moment was broken all too soon.

"Mates?" Spike's voice was filled with tension. "I think you'd better start explaining things."

The men looked up, startled out of their private reverie, and found all eyes upon them. Those eyes reflected confusion, suspicion, and once again, no little anger. A resigned expression stole over the Faerie's face. "I didn't think I'd have to explain quite so much today, but I seem to keep throwing out surprises. All right, we'll do it this way. Ask your questions, as I know you have them. I'll answer and we'll go from there."

Buffy nodded tightly, trying not to let her anger get the best of her. She'd just let go of her temper and then was confronted with this! This highly important magical object that Giles was supposedly the protector of was in Ethan Rayne's possession. And Giles had given it to the man! There had to be a reason though. The man she knew, and Giles had just told her that he was still the man she knew, wouldn't just give a powerful amulet to his enemy for no good reason. And that line of thought provided her with the first question.

"Ethanisn't your enemy, is he? I mean, you told us a little and we assumed the rest from watching you two fight, but there's something more to it, isn't there?"

The Watcher beamed with pride at his Slayer, who smiled brightly in response. It felt great to please Giles. He was her mentor and sometimes she didn't even realize how much she looked up to him, how much she cared about what he thought of her.

"You are correct, Buffy, our relationship is much more complex than what I let you believe. Let's start with the few times you've met him before. He's caused immense trouble each time and you've seen me get angry with him. You thought that my anger was due to his actions, but that's a simplification. Tell me, what actions in particular did you think I hated?"

"Well, that's easy." Ri'par quirked an eyebrow at Xander, who continued. "Well, he was doing nasty things. Evil magic. Right?"

A headshake and a small smile were the first response. "First of all, magic is neither evil nor good, it just is. Magic can be aligned in certain ways, depending on who is doing the casting and what their objectives are, but magic itself is simply aa form of energy, I suppose. Now, before you say it, yes, Ethan is a Chaos Magician and a great many people think that Chaos equals evil. It certainly does tend to be part of mischief, both big and small. But Chaos is a part of the universe, just as Order is, and there must be a balance between the two. If the balance tips to one or the other, that is what is likely to bring evil."

Willow's brow furrowed as she processed what Giles was saying. "But, isn't order good? I mean, I don't see how it can be bad"

The man on the bed nodded understandingly, "The most common example is the Nazis. They desired order and went to great lengths to obtain it, but would anyone say that what they did was good?" Everyone but Spike, who was just listening with an amused expression, shook their heads.

"No, they are thought to be a great evil and this is because they tipped the balance too far to the side of Order. Now, because of humanity's natural inclination to think that Order equals good, to maintain the balance, Chaos sometimes needs a bit of a push. At least, that's true in this particular plane. There are others where the opposite holds true, but that's getting into a bigger discussion than we want right now." He smiled ruefully at his own tendency to turn a lecture onto tangents.

"Ethan, as a Chaos Magician, simply helps maintain the balance and I cannot object to that. In fact, there's a deeper reason I cannot object."

Spike broke in then, "Cause of what you are, right? I know the stories."

"Stories?" Buffy looked confused but comprehension was dawning in Tara's mind. "Faerie stories. Faeries h-haven't always been depicted as cute little pixies. Th-they used to be great mischief-makers, oftentimes to the point of cruelty. There are stories about ch-changelings, grand illusions, and there's that famous one, P-Puck. Robin Goodfellow."

Nodding, Ri'par elaborated. "The magic of the Fae folk is much more inclined to Chaos than to Order. We're drawn to it. Which is why so many Faeries play pranks and cause a great deal of trouble for Mortals. Some more than others. For example, Robin Goodfellow is real, though he hasn't visited this plane in hundreds of years."

"So why'd you object to the wizard here? Seems to me you'd be applauding him, what with being drawn to Chaos and all."

"Yes, Spike, I am drawn to him. Ethan isa good match. But he's a bit of an idiot sometimes." Ri'par gazed affectionately at his friend. "The one place on Earth that does not need more Chaos energy is the Hellmouth. We have quite enough as it is. Plus," he turned his eyes fondly towards Buffy. "He was hurting you. I couldn't let him get away with harming you." His voice was soft and filled with emotion.

Buffy blinked a few times, making sure she wasn't tearing up. This hadn't been what she expected when she'd asked her question. But he hadn't explained everything yet.

"All right, so that explains the way you act whenever Ethan's in town, but why'd you give him the armband? For that matter, when did you give it to him? There was that mess with Eyghon and then you didn't see him again until Halloween that year. Right? At least, that's what you told us"

"No, I didn't lie, Buffy. But neither did I tell you the complete truth, which is mixed into my being Fae. I met Ethan in the first few years of my living in this world and we were immediately drawn to each other. Eyghon wasa tremendous mistake. Besides being foolhardy in its own right, summoning a demon when my entire purpose for coming here was to learn how to fight them was"

"Effing bloody stupid, you ask me."

"Yes, quite. Thank you, Spike, for thatinterjection. Anyway, the point is, after Randall died, not only did I realize that what we were doing was extremely dangerous and wrong, but I was in quite a bit of trouble."

Xander held his hands up and shook his head, "Wait, wait. You were in trouble? With who? The police? The Watchers?"

"My father, actually. It took a great deal of persuasion for him to allow me to remain in the Mortal realm. One of the conditions was that I avoid further contact with Ethan"

This time Willow interrupted him. "You got in trouble with your father? Butyou were an adult! You said you were twenty-one."

Ri'par blushed, a charming bit of color that spread from his cheeks to his pointed ears. "The human I was, am, posing as, Rupert Giles, he was twenty-one. But Faeries age differently. I am currently ninety-seven years old which means that I was seventy-three when we first raised Eyghon. While for humans, this is old, for Faeries, it is very young."

Ethan rolled his eyes at his friend. "What he's trying to say, kids, without actually saying it, is that he's not technically an adult yet. For the Fae, one hundred is the age of majority. That is why his father was involved."

With a snort of laughter Xander grinned, "You mean you're a teenager?"

Ri'par blushed again, "Um, well, I suppose you could say that, yes. I believe that the comparison could be made. But the point is that my father stipulated that to stay in this world, I must continue my studies and not be involved with Ethan, whom he saw as encouraging my foolishness."

Ethan's voice was prickly when he added, "This coming from the man who thought I was a perfect match for you when you first introduced us."

"Yes, well, I suppose having your son involved with a demon and the death of one of his human friends is bound to change one's opinions about said friends. The point is that I still loved Ethan, but had to leave him. So I gave him the armband to remember me by. I never told him what it did precisely, just that it was a protective amulet of my people."

Blowing out a puff of smoke, Spike smirked, "Never pegged you for the romantic type, Ripper."


	14. Chapter Thirteen: Breakdown

Chapter Thirteen: Breakdown

Giles rolled his eyes at Spike's comment and his use of the old nickname. When he had first gifted Ethan with his true name, his lover had been honored. As a wizard, he knew just how much power names had, especially to a being such as Ri'par. He also knew that he could never actually use that name except in private, so he'd come up with a rather brilliant solution. Using Ripper as a nickname, nobody even considered that it was Rupert Giles' true name. Even those who might suspect couldn't use it against the Faerie as the pronunciation was just different enough to not be dangerous.

"Perhaps not in the sense you mean, Spike, but yes, I suppose I am. Of course, that's certainly not something to hold against me, as I know what you did with your life before being Turned, William."

Spike's pale skin actually managed to tinge pink a bit as he thought of his past. He took one last drag on his cigarette before putting it out idly in the palm of his hand and then throwing the stub away. He watched the small burn heal, seemingly fascinated, and then started heading for the door. "Right then. I'm gone. There's still a bit of night left to prowl. Gonna join me Slayer? Nothing like killing to take your mind off things."

Buffy hesitated for a moment and looked to her Watcher, still prone on the bed. Giles, knowing she'd need time to process everything that she'd just learned, nodded. She could take her frustrations out on the demons stupid enough to get in her way and when she came back, she'd be better able to help plan their defense against the Master Vampire since it was assured that he would try again for the armband.

Permission gained, Buffy followed Spike out of the room and out of the house, intent on doing violence to the demon population of Sunnydale. Giles then looked to the remaining three teenagers, who gazed back at him questioningly.

"And perhaps you should head back home, get some sleep. Tomorrow will be time enough to plan."

Willow nodded and started out the door, herding Xander a bit, and Tara followed. "We'll be back tomorrow, Giles. You get some sleep too. You really need it."

Xander agreed, "Yeah, Fairy Man, you went through hell today. Better get some rest."

Willow shook her head in annoyance and dragged Xander out as he wondered aloud what he'd said, what he'd done wrong this time.

Finally, the two men heard the front door closing and knew they were alone in the house. Ri'par's body sagged, all energy leaving his form. Ethan noticed immediately and helped the Faerie lie back down from his position against the headboard. Then he sat leaned against the headboard himself and stroked Ri'par's long hair.

"Physically, you're almost completely healed, but the boy was right, Ripper. You went through hell and you need to rest."

Ri'par shook his head, keeping his eyes closed. "I'm not sure I can sleep. I'll just dream"

Ethan's hand paused on Ri'par's head, then resumed its motion. "You'll recover. This has happened before."

Ri'par's eyes fixed onto Ethan's seriously. "Not like this. With Eyghon, I chose to be a part of the circle."

"I meant with Angelus. I remember coming back into town, finding you just out of the hospital, your Slayer run away. He tortured you, raped you. You were jumpy for weeks. Thank the gods the children didn't know I was here"

"And that my father was in another realm and couldn't come after you?"

"I couldn't leave you alone, Ripper. Not after what happened. And I won't leave you alone now."

A tear trickled down from the Faerie's glittering eye. He smiled sadly. "Thank you. I fear I will have need of your support. This timeit was much worse than with Angelus."

Ethan turned quizzical. "How so? Your injuries this time weren't nearly as bad. Some burns, the arrow in your arm, a lot of shallow cuts, and of course the rape, but that happened before as well. But no broken bones, nothing reallycreative." He shivered a little at the memory of what had been done to his beloved.

"No, butwhen Angelus had me, it was partially my decision to remain. You see, if I had been willing to reveal what I am, I could have easily gotten away. Angelus was not prepared for a Faerie prisoner, though I have no doubt that he would have been delighted to have one. But a simple glamour would have fooled him long enough for me to escape. II allowed what happened. I willingly stayed in that situation to protect myself and to help Buffy."

"And this time?" Ethan's voice was soft.

"They had cold iron, Ethan." Ri'par's voice was that of a scared child and a tremble ran through his body. "Do you realize what that does to us? How much it hurts to be cut off from your powers, unable to create even the simplest of spells?"

Ethan shuddered just thinking about it and pulled the older, and yet somehow, younger man towards him in a comforting embrace. He pressed a kiss to Ri'par's forehead.

"You're safe now. No one will bind you, no one will hurt you. I'm here and I'll stay with you, protect you."

Ethan whispered comforting words and the man he held relaxed. Ri'par murmured indistinctly as he started to drop off to a much-needed sleep. Ethan continued stroking his hair, lying down and arranging himself next to the slumbering Faerie.

"I'll always be here for you, Ri'par. I love you."


	15. Chapter Fourteen: Knowing the Enemy

Chapter Fourteen: Knowing the Enemy

The next day the gang was gathered once again at the Watcher's home. Spike had ambled in directly before dawn and dropped onto the couch for some rest, not even bothering with the two men upstairs. The rest of the group had all trickled in about an hour before noon. Spike had been awakened by the noise the teenagers created and had joined in, loudly demanding blood. As the others were hungry as well, and nobody wanted to think on an empty stomach, Xander headed out for blood and pizza, though only after remarking how that particular combination was totally eww.

Sleep had finished all the physical healing that Giles needed and Ethan was there to help him with the emotional. He ignored as much as he could and if something became too overpowering, the Faerie would lean into his friend for comfort and then continue. Both men had come downstairs from the bedroom at the first sign of life invading the house. Notably, Buffy's rather flamboyant entrance, which had consisted of yelling at Spike for taking up space. Giles had chuckled, relieved that his Slayer was apparently feeling herself again, and he and Ethan had dressed and joined everyone in the living room.

While Xander was fetching lunch, Giles went rooting through his books to find some journals the Watchers used to identify different vampires. He'd used them before to find out about Angelus, the Gorch brothers, and even William the Bloody. Now they were trying to find the vampire that had kidnapped him, hoping to learn something about him that would aid in their fight against him.

Since they didn't know the vampire's name as Giles had never heard it spoken during his captivity, they began by leafing through the books to find pictures of well-known vampires. They'd all seen him, Giles in person and the others through the scrying spell. Giles had one book, Buffy another, Willow and Tara shared a third while Spike idly flipped through the last. Ethan was in the kitchen brewing tea. He came back with two cups, sat on the arm of the couch next to Giles and handed him one of the cups, looking over his shoulder at the book as he did so.

Of all people, the shout of triumph came from Spike. "Oi! There's the bugger now. Not much to look at, is he?"

It was true, as they all crowded around to get a look. The hand-drawn picture showed a familiar short, thin, and balding vampire. They all recognized him but just as they started reading about him, Xander came in with the food. Lunch being infinitely more important to a group of teenagers and one vampire, everyone headed directly for the pizza (and the blood). Giles and Ethan simply looked at each other in amusement and went to join the rest of the group. After all, their stomachs were starting to growl as well.

When everyone was full, they once again gathered together in the living room. Giles sat on the couch, the book in his lap, and everyone crowded around him. The Watcher scanned the page in silence and then began speaking,

"His name is Gregory and he's very old."

"Older than Angel?"

Reining in a chuckle, Giles nodded. "Yes, Buffy, older than Angel. More than twice his age actually as Gregory is roughly five hundred and thirty years old compared to Angel's two hundred and forty."

Spike gave a low whistle. "I've heard of vampires that old, but I've never met one, never even came close. The oldest vamp I ever knew was the poof's sire, Darla, right bitch that she was, and I think she was something like three hundred maybe."

"We don't actually know much about him as he's extremely smart and knows how to hide the evidence of his activities. That's most likely why he's lasted so long. Most vampires end up bringing a bit too much attention to themselves and are hunted down, either by Watchers, the Slayer, or one of the few vampire hunters that wander the world."

Spike cut in again. "There used to be more of em, the bloody wankers. Before everyone just decided that vampires were myth, you had to be careful about how many you killed in a single place. Whole towns would go on vampire hunts if they felt threatened enough."

Xander frowned, "What about the Great Scourge of Europe? Angelus and Darla? You and Drusilla?"

"Well that was different, wasn't it? That was four vampires working in concert, one of them a seer. We got away with a lot more than a vampire on his own, or even one with just minions, would have been able to." He smirked, "And anyway, I'm the Big Bad, ain't I?"

"If we could get back to the point please?" Giles waited until everyone was paying attention again and then continued.

"Apparently Gregory is something of a scholar as well as a collector. What little information we have suggests that he is constantly searching for mystical artifacts and knowledge about different kinds of demons and magics. He's very meticulous and careful, two traits that apparently have served him well. I've never heard of a vampire with such a well thought-out lair before."

Spike nodded, "Usually, we just come to town, grab a decent warehouse or crypt, and set up shop. Buying a building is a bit out there."

"He's even got that music store in the first floor for camouflage. I mean, I've shopped there! That's just creepy." Xander gave a dramatic shiver to emphasize the creepiness.

Standing up and stretching a bit, Ethan broke in, "So we know he smart and he's tenacious. Lovely. How much does he know about you and the armband, Ripper?"

Giles gave it a bit of thought. "Well, he knows I'm a Faerie, obviously, though I'm not sure how much he knows about Faeries in general. He does know about cold iron being my weakness though, so we'll have to watch that."

Buffy paid strict attention to that tidbit. After all, she didn't want her watcher hurt again. "What does it do to you anyway, Giles?"

"Well, first of all, it binds us, prevents us from using any of our magics. But it also hurts, burns. Not physically burns but that's what the pain feels like. It's hard enough having it rest against my skin, I certainly wouldn't want to have an iron weapon anywhere near me."

"All right, so that's one thing. I'll make sure no one gets near you with anything iron."

Ri'par smiled at his Slayer, touched, and didn't bother to voice any sort of complaint or reassurance. He knew she needed this and to be truthful with himself, he needed it to. He'd certainly feel safe with Buffy protecting him.

"All, right, so he knows about iron. We have to assume that even though you killed the Nathlar, Ethan, that Gregory still knows everything I told that demon. That means he knows I'm the key to the armband. If he wants it, he'll be coming after me. He'll know it's magical properties as well, which I don't think he had the details of when he first started his search. However, and this is important, he does not know that Ethan is currently wearing the armband, and I do not know if he is aware that his weakness to sunlight will still be in play even if he does manage to gain it. If all else fails and we cannot keep it from him, we can use that fact against him."

Buffy took over the meeting. "Okay, we know the vamp'll be coming here. He needs Giles and he knows this is where you live since he's come here before."

Tara gasped and then turned pink and ducked her head as everyone looked at her. It took her a few moments to speak. "Um, the vampires, th-they got in because of that d-demon, right? I mean, we all h-heard Gregory explain about the N-Nathlar's aura powers. Th-that's how they got invited in. B-but can they still come? Even though it w-wasn't Mr. Giles who invited them?"

The room was filled with identical shocked expressions. Giles' voice was the first to break the silence. "II never even considered that. You're right, of course, Tara. Thank you for pointing that out. We don't know which of Gregory's minions were killed, but if even one of those who captured me is still alive, then we lose one of our largest advantages, sovereign territory. I'll perform the spell to uninvite them immediately."

"Will that affect me, mate?"

"What? Oh, no, Spike, if you are inside when I perform the spell, your invitation stands. Though why I'm allowing that, I have no idea."

Smirking, the bleached blond vampire replied, "Cause you can't get enough of me Ripper. You know that."

Giles rolled his eyes and moved off to begin the spell. Ethan glared at Spike and then followed his former lover. Everyone else went their separate ways to begin gathering weapons for the battle they were sure would happen that night. They didn't know the exact numbers of Gregory's minions or his demon allies so they wanted to be prepared for anything. That meant squirt guns with holy water, lots of stakes, and edged weapons for anyone who could handle them. The magic users planned to have a few surprises waiting the attackers as well.


	16. Chapter Fifteen: Beware Faerie Gifts

Chapter Fifteen: Beware Faerie Gifts

When Giles and Ethan had finished the uninvite spell and the rest had gathered every weapon they could think of for the battle, Tara made a suggestion. She'd remembered some Faerie stories that she'd heard as a girl. Not the Cinderella kind but myths and legends she'd been told about the actual Fae and their magics. Using a few books in Giles' collection, she'd checked up on a few assumptions and found that her idea might work. When everyone gathered, waiting for night to fall, she had questioned Giles about her idea. When he agreed that it could be done, everyone congratulated Tara on her cleverness and talked amongst themselves as Giles and Ethan implemented Tara's plan. They were done a mere ten minutes before sunset and joined the others in silent waiting.

The start of the battle proved that the Scoobies weren't up against a run-of-the-mill vampire. Gregory had tactical talent and knew strategy well. As soon as the sun's rays were no longer a danger to them, the vampires converged on the Watcher's home from the sewers. Two vampires came up to the door together and tried to enter. Of the original attack group, they were the only two who had survived and so Gregory hoped that they would still be invited. From their faces, it was apparently a nasty shock when they were stopped by the invisible barrier. Unfortunately, Gregory had planned for this. All the vampires surrounded the windows while Gregory's demon allies moved on the door. Not needing an invitation, they quickly gained entrance by the simple expedient of brute force. Lacking the Nathlar's aura abilities however, they could not invite the vampires in and so the fight began to bring Giles outside to Gregory.

Xander and Spike were stationed at the windows. Xander was using a crossbow to shoot at the vampires and Spike had jumped outside and started laying in with a stake and bare hands. He was having the time of his unlife as he dusted the minions. If an enemy came too close to him, Xander nailed them with an arrow.

Buffy was defending the front door and was doing a pretty good job of it. Sure, the demons had broken the door down, but then they had to get past the Slayer and she wasn't letting any one of them by easily. A miniature whirlwind, Buffy attacked with kicks, punches, and an ax that she wielded one-handed and used to good effect, actually beheading two of her opponents.

The two witches and the sorcerer were weaving spells of protection, shields that held back some of the demons from entering, at least until Buffy could deal with them. Giles himself stayed behind the others, playing to Gregory's idea that the Faerie would be hiding from him. But in his palm nestled Tara's plan, which they'd put into action only if necessary. Still, he was also able to assist the battle by weaving several small glamours, mostly on his Slayer, that made her appear slightly out of sync with herself. The demons she fought kept trying to strike her a few centimeters from where she actually stood. She'd dodge and come back with her own swift attacks.

The numbers of the enemy, however, began to take their toll. One of the vampires outside the now-open window threw a rock that hit Willow on the head and knocked her out of the fight. That effectively got rid of Tara too as she knelt to help her girlfriend. The shielding spells lost a great deal of potency with two of the three magic users out of the fight and the demons began edging their way into the room. There were too many now coming in for Buffy to defend against them all and some of them got past her. Xander turned his crossbow on the demons but unlike their vampiric allies, simple wooden bolts did nothing to slow most of them down, though he did drop two of the more human-looking ones.

Being approached by these new demons, Ethan had to switch from defensive magic to offensive, firing off several quick and nasty spells. Unfortunately, this left the front door completely defenseless, instead of just mostly, and Buffy was finally grabbed by three of the strongest demons and held out of the way by the wall. Another demon headed for Xander and, after ducking the boy's swinging crossbow, managed to knock him out of the fight as well.

Spike was kept busy with the vampires outside and couldn't come back in to aid the rest of the Scoobies. Every time he tried to turn, he encountered another minion he hadn't yet killed. "How many of you bloody poufs are there?!" He continued fighting, trying to catch a glimpse of what was happening inside the house.

Ethan hadn't been able to cast spells quick enough and had soon been overpowered. Tara had looked up at his pained cry as he was thrown several feet through the air to land limply on the floor. She started to cast a spell but was cut off halfway through by one of the tide of demons who simply knocked her to the ground with a backhanded slap.

Giles backed up a few steps, his eyes glancing at each of his defenders, now unconscious or occupied. Then he straightened and looked regally at the demons who were now grasping his arms, preparing to drag him out to Gregory. "I will meet him myself, thank you."

The body the demons had grabbed faded away to their shock and the real Rupert Giles, who had cast an utterly complex and lifelike illusion spell, stepped down the stairs from the second floor and made his way outside unaided. There he was met by the diminutive figure of Gregory who, without his demonic face, would have looked incredibly harmless if not for the truly triumphantly evil smile that graced his features.

"Well, Lordling, it seems I have won."

Ri'par inclined his head. "It appears that way."

"Will you forfeit my prize or will I have to take itand you as well?"

Ri'par shook his head, "No. Here, Gregory you are named, here is what you seek." He tossed the object in his hands to the vampire, who easily caught it and held the carved silver armband tightly in his fist. Ri'par smiled and finished, "Here is a gift from the Fae folk."

Gregory's eyes narrowed and he looked at Giles in confusion. The fight between the minions and Spike had died down as they all watched the Master Vampire and the Faerie confront each other. Now the other vampires, who had been smiling at their win, were looking very confused and Spike was grinning, presenting a demented look as he was still in gameface.

Gregory held up the armband so he could look at it more closely and it began to shine with light. The light grew outward until finally, in front of Gregory, was a glowing gateway. He could see nothing beyond the light but the door was pulling him in and he couldn't resist. His eyes grew round in fright and anger as he fought the spell. "What have you done?"

Ri'par smirked, truly looking as the mischievous Faerie at that moment. "Have you never been warned about accepting gifts from Faeries?" Gregory snarled as he was pulled bodily into the portal, his hand still clutching the false armband. When he was all the way through, the light died and the air was as it had been.

Giles shook his head mock-sadly. "It is always true that Faerie gifts are treacherous."

The minions and demons, who had all watched their leader be pulled into another dimension or world, started looking around at each other, wondering what to do now. Due to this, Buffy's three captors were slightly inattentive and she broke free, immediately slaying two of them and starting in on the third. The rest of the attackers took this as a signal and all began running away from the house as fast as possible, breaking off into different directions as they ran. After all, they no longer had Gregory's lair and protection.

Spike walked up to Giles, who quirked an eyebrow at him. Spike grinned and clapped the Watcher on the back. "Guess we showed them not to mess with the Big Bad, eh mate?"


	17. Chapter Sixteen: Faerie Tale Endings

Chapter Sixteen: Faerie Tale Endings

It took several hours to completely clean away all traces of the battle. Magic was used to repair the smashed door and get rid of the demon corpses. Unlike vampires, the demons hadn't conveniently turned to ash as they died. It was nearing dawn when everything was finally finished and the entire group pretty much collapsed on any surface they could find.

Spike lounged on the stairs, his long legs stretched out in front of him. "Well, that was a bit of fun, wasn't it?"

Everyone else just stared at him, too worn out to say anything. He shrugged, "What? I always like a good fight, we won, what's to complain about? There's just no pleasing some people."

"So GilesI mean Ripper" The Watcher took pity on his young friend and said, "You can still call me Giles, Xander."

"Right. Well, Giles, what exactly was that spell anyway? I mean, you and Tara were real busy coming up with the idea but I don't get it, why couldn't you have just given it to him without all the fighting?"

Willow lightly smacked the back of Xander's head with her palm. "Because then he would have suspected something, doofus!"

Giles nodded, "Yes, he had to believe that I was only giving up to him after all my options were gone, after my defenders had fallen. The key to any great mischief or trickery is misdirection. If someone expects something specific, you provide that while behind your back you do something else."

"And you as a Faerie would know this well, eh mate?"

"Yes, well, I am rather the black sheep of the family, but there are some traits that I share with the rest. I may not be the great trickster that the Puck or the Amadan are, but I know the basics."

"So how come it was Tara who thought of tricking Gregory and not you?" Buffy simply looked curious, wanting to find out more about her Watcher, where he came from.

"Perhaps I have played the human for too long. Simply because I am Faerie though is no reason to expect me to always be thinking of what cruel trick to play next. Tara showed remarkable perception and creativity. And the spell was truly inspired."

"Yeah, you didn't answer that. What was that spell, anyway, huh Fae-Man?"

"You know, I think I almost prefer him calling me G-Man," Giles said softly to Ethan, who grinned. Then he spoke louder, letting everyone hear him. "It was an opening spell. It opens doorways. The spell is set into an object, usually a key. I just made it look like the armband so he'd be fooled. The magics of appearance have ever been one of Faerie's strengths. If he keeps the spell, doors will keep opening for him and he will get ever deeper into other realms. Faerie magic doesn't kill you see, but it can often be much crueler than death."

"B-but this time, the v-victim deserved the c-cruelty."

Ethan cocked an eyebrow at Tara. "Yes, I agree completely. Which is why, of course, I let you do this to him instead of killing him like I wanted. Hurting my Ripper" He pulled the Faerie close to him, glad to simply be with him.

Xander rolled his eyes, "I can see where this is going. Come on guys, let's go out for breakfast and then get some sleep. Leave the two lovebirds alone."

Giles chuckled softly as the four teens all trooped out of the house. "Spike, you may sleep on the couch. Please do not keep the telly too loud."

Spike nodded and moved his body just enough so that Giles and Ethan could go up the stairs. "Have fun, mates. Don't do anything I wouldn't do. Come to think of it, don't do a lot of stuff I would do."

Ethan smiled softly as he was finally alone with his beloved. After all these years apart, with the hurt between them, he still loved this man. But he'd have to go slowly, he knew. His Ripper was still hurt, fragile. For now, they both stripped down to underwear and climbed into bed. Giles was already falling asleep, exhausted after the long night. Ethan pressed a kiss against his lover's brow.

"Good night, sweet prince. I'll let only happy dreams come for you."

"You know in the old days, more often than not, fairy stories had grisly, horrific endings. The hero is devoured by the fearsome beastthe young girl dissolves into sea foamsomeone's sweet granny is baked into a pie and fed to her loved ones. Scarcely a happy ending in sight. The crowd-pleasing, Happily Ever After' ending is a fairly recent invention, easy morals and artificial sentiment. Safe, bloodless and utterly disposable. Hardly an improvement, if you ask me. But the fact is, neither school of thought gets it right. Both of them miss the real point. So, what is the truth? What's the big secret? How do fairy tales really end? The truth isthey don't."

--Kildare, "The Magic of Aria"


	18. Preview

Author's Note:

It's done! It's finished! ::does a little dance around the room:: This took way longer to write than I originally planned. Hope everyone liked it. I'm not starting on the rest of the Ri'par series immediately because I still have some school projects to work on (wasn't college supposed to be fun?) and I want to work on some of my other stories, which have been complaining about feeling neglected of late. But there will be more, I promise.

Here's a list of plans I have for the series, not in any order. I've added a few ideas to the last list.

Ethan's comforting Giles after Angelus kidnapped and tortured him.

Ri'par and Ethan first meeting, their relationship, etc. (Expect this one to be a longish one.)

The story of Gregory: I just have to write how my new favorite vamp came into being.

Dawn: I hate her, I hate her being brought into the show. Expect Ri'par's Faerie powers to do something about this.

Ri'par's father: We know he doesn't approve of Ethan and he's currently out of the picture so what happens when he comes back?

Buffy: The will be an entire story focusing on how Giles and Buffy get their Watcher/Slayer relationship straightened out.

Faerie: There will be at least one story taking place in the Faerie realm, possibly depicting Ri'par's life as a child, possibly having the Scoobies take an trip to Ri'par's home. Probably both.

One steamy sex story about Ethan and Ri'par. Every author has to have one. Don't exect this on to be on ff.net. By the time I feel confident enough to write it, I'll have my own webpage.

Gregory might be back! That little trinket has more powers than Giles let on and Gregory's a pretty smart demon.

You may have noticed Riley and Anya aren't in this. Some stories in this series might not be Ripper-centric. I have plans for Xander and a few ideas for Buffy as well. They both deserve better than the two losers they were saddled with (apologies to Riley and Anya fans, I just don't like them).

Expect some stories that take place in this universe, but not with any of these characters. How Shakespeare got that prophecy is something I'd like to explore, for instance.

Yes, the group from LA will probably be showing up at some point. The original version of this story was actually going to take place in LA instead of Sunnydale so I still have some ideas about Angel and Wesley reacting to Giles' identity.

And if anyone has any details they'd like to know more about, let me know, maybe you'll get a story, I'm always willing to trade stories as well. You give me one I want and I give you one you want. LOL

Response to Responses:

Kim: I love having a fan! Thank you. I'm so glad you like my stuff! The next update should be happening to Watching Slayers and Swords, so keep an eye out for that. Hopefully I'll get a chapter done sometime next weekend, as I finally finished redoing my outline.


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